Operation Raise the Colours: UK residents sick of ‘apologising for being British’
Even in my sleepy town of Faversham, Kent, the St George flag can be seen, one pole after another, waving in the wind. One flagger tells me: “We want to make sure that our town becomes proud of its national heritage.” Another tells me: “Raising the flag helps make us feel at home.”
There is little doubt the people supporting Operation Raise the Colours are not just in the business of confining their activities to one-off stunts. At the very least this grassroots movement is determined to challenge the nation’s local councils to value the English flag and to cease being hostile to the flying of the Union Jack.
The movement of flaggers took off in Birmingham. Probably this movement would not have gained such prominence if it hadn’t been for the reaction of Birmingham’s Labour-dominated local council to the sight of England’s flag flying from the city’s lampposts.
The council reacted by ordering the removal of the flags on the grounds they put the lives of pedestrians and motorists “at risk” despite being up to 7.5m off the ground. It was evident to all that this council applied a different standard of judgment in relation to the Palestinian flag, which are flown all over the city.
Birmingham’s flaggers, who call themselves the “Weoley Warriors”, stated that their goal was to “show Birmingham and the rest of the country of how proud we are of our history, freedoms and achievements”.
One local resident, Mrs Owens, a former police officer, told the media: “I think there will be trouble, even riots if they take them down.”
She added: “We are sick of having to apologise for being British. The flags have had such a positive impact on the community – people love them. There is nothing political about it.”
There is little doubt Mrs Owens’s message has resonated with wide sections of the public. Supporters of the movement indicated they were fed up with the situation where local councils were happy to fly the Palestinian and LGBTQ flags but not that of their nation.
The movement of flaggers quickly spread from Birmingham to towns and cities throughout England.
“Let’s bring back patriotism once and for all,” stated the Facebook page of Operation Raise the Colours. It urged members to post images of the assorted national flags of the four British nations “being raised around our great towns and cities”.
In response individuals decided to form groups that took it upon themselves to go out and do what they called “flagging” around their town.
There is also no doubt that the flaggers have provoked a hostile reaction from large sections of the British elite that regard the flaggers with contempt and never miss an opportunity to issue warnings about the threat posed by far-right conspirators lurking in the background.
This alarmist reaction was personified by Nick Ireland, the Liberal Democrat leader of Dorset Council, who insisted that some residents found the sudden appearance St George’s and Union flags “intimidating”. He added that it was naive to suggest these emblems had not been “hijacked” by some far-right groups.
Ireland and other sections of the “patriotism is dangerous” brigade never stop to ask the question of why members of the public find symbols of the nation they inhabit intimidating. Neither does he consider why it is OK for his council to fly the flags of Ukraine, Palestine and Pride but not those of his own nation.
The reason some members of the public find England’s flag intimidating is because the British establishment has for decades treated this symbol of English nationalism with contempt. The message they communicate is that only simple-minded fools, football hooligans or far-right nutters could associate themselves with St George’s flag.
Yet the people supporting the flaggers are normal working people fed up with being made to feel strangers in their own home. Still, there is little doubt that the mainstream media’s accusation that this movement was racist and organised by the far right had an impact on the participants of Operation Raise the Colours.
When I interviewed the people going around and raising the flag of St George on the lampposts of Faversham, I was struck by their initial defensive justification of their action. They spent the first two minutes of our discussion trying to reassure me they were not racist but patriots fed up with the way their flag was devalued. It was only after I explained that I was on their side and supported their objectives that they felt confident to drop the “we are not racist” rhetoric and discuss the concerns that motivated them.
They explained that they were hoping to bring back patriotism so people could feel pride in their community and in the achievements of their ancestors.
This point was later echoed by Joseph Moulton, one of the organisers of Flag Force UK, who told a television interviewer that he had encouraged people to not just do the flagging but to use it as a “gateway to actually building the communities … doing the litter picking, helping the food banks, looking after vulnerable people”.
What struck me about my conversation with the Faversham flaggers was they were a group of committed men and women who were struggling to find their voice. None of them was previously politically active. They knew what they were doing mattered and was important to their community, but they also understood that they were being confronted with powerful forces that were ready to belittle their behaviour and distort their message.
Yet they were excited by the realisation that their campaign gained so much support. “I am giddy because for the first time in my life I feel that what I do really is important,” said Lizzie, a young mother of two children. Her husband Joe indicated they were doing this for their children, so that they could feel that Faversham was their home.
As a sociologist I concluded that the people participating in the flagging movement were in the midst of finding their voice. I felt they were halfway there. They had taken a gigantic step forward, but they had not yet been able to work out a compelling argument justifying their cause.
Nevertheless, the Faversham flaggers, like their comrades up and down the country, have succeeded in making their voices heard. Even sections of Britain’s political establishment, which regards the movement of flaggers with contempt, have been forced to concede that it’s actually OK to fly the flag of St George.
Though reluctantly, even Prime Minister Keir Starmer fell into line. Backing the right of the public to fly the flag, he remarked that patriotism “will always be an important thing”. Starmer, too, must have realised that something important was astir and that the rebirth of English patriotism had become a fact of life.
Frank Furedi’s latest book is The War Against the Past: Why the West Must Fight for Its History (Polity Press).
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Suddenly, flagging has become a big thing in England. Out of nowhere a social media driven grassroots movement of flaggers has emerged. Throughout England groups of newly emerging activist are hanging flags on lampposts and painting red crosses on roundabouts.